Double D was in his room, getting ready for his dinner with Marie and her family. His stomach was churning and his heart was thudding in his chest, but he tried to keep himself upbeat. His relationship with Marie hadn't quite taken off yet, but surely spending time with her and her family would help rectify that.

That is, if her sisters and her mother didn't annihilate him first.

Edd quickly shook that thought out of his head. No, perhaps he and his friends had been wrong about the Kankers this whole time. After all, Marie saved his life which is the only reason why-

"Are you sure about this Sockhead?" Eddy snarled, trying to remove the last of the lipstick smudges from his face. "You're walking into a nest of Kanker vipers."

Edd rolled his eyes. "Eddy, I told you before Marie is my girlfriend now and we haven't gotten along ideally as of yet. I need to try harder to be a more attentive boyfriend. "

"Or you could loosen the reigns a little." Eddy mumbled.

Double D instantly frowned. "What do mean by that, Eddy?"

"You're smothering her dude!" Eddy said irritably as he moved on to Ed next. "Marie's a flippin' Kanker! They don't want you all over them, they want to be all over you! Whether you like it or not!"

"Kankers are sticky like old maple syrup, Double D." Ed warned with a wag of his finger.

"Well you two are quite wrong about Marie." Double D humped and finished tying his bowtie. "Ever since Marie and I entered a relationship, she's been quite respectful of my personal space."

He finished tying his bowtie with a snap and turned around proudly. "Well fellows, how do I look?"

He was wearing his black dress pants, a nice clean shirt, a blazer that was perhaps a just a little too big for him, and of course a nice clean bowtie. Ed and Eddy took one look at his outfit and began laughing. Edd merely rolled his eyes and grabbed the potted plant he had chosen to bring.

"If you'll excuse me gentlemen, but I have dinner plans." He said haughtily. "I'd escort you out, but I don't want to run late."

"Yeah, yeah we're leaving." Eddy grumbled and started pushing Ed out. "But if those Kankers tie you up and lock you in a closet don't come crying to us!"

"Duly noted Eddy." Double D mumbled following them out.

Once on the streets of the cul-de-sac, the three of them parted ways. Edd tried not to let Eddy's words get to him. Marie was different, her new outfit change proved that she wasn't just some violent, overly amorous, immature young lady. She had risked her life to save his and that didn't count for nothing. Why, with just a little more attention from him, he could make Marie into his ideal girlfriend.

Double D was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that he had arrived at the trailer park. The sound of dogs barking and people yelling echoed among the mobile houses. The plant in his hands trembled as he stood in front of the Kanker's trailer. Already he could hear a loud and probably violent argument inside.

"Didn't I tell you to watch that sauce?" A woman's voice snapped.

"May was supposed to do it, not me!" Lee's baritone thundered back.

For a split second, Edd felt the strongest urge to turn around right at that moment and go back home. But then he remembered that cold, tumultuous water and rang the doorbell.

"Who the hell is at our door this late?"

"Maybe the pizza guy?"

"Why the hell would it be the pizza guy May? We're making dinner right now!"

"Both of you shut your yaps!" A new voice cut through. "I got the door."

Footsteps came to the door and Double D's polite smile fell as soon as the door opened. Marie stood in front of him, backlit from the light coming from inside of the house. It was what she was wearing that caused his jaw to drop. Instead of her pleasant outfit from earlier today, Marie was now wearing a laced, ruffled miniskirt, stockings, and combat boots (all black of course), and a tight fitting green top. Her hair was pressed into a neat bob, with her ever present heavy bang hanging over one eye. The other eye was both heavily lined and shadowed with make-up and her lips stood out with bright red lip gloss.

And what surprised Edd the most? She looked absolutely beautiful to him.

When Marie opened the door, she was proud to see Double D's stunned reaction. A smirk came to her lips.

"You just going to stand there or are you going to come in?" She asked.

"Y-you look beautiful."

Marie blinked in surprise. She knew she looked good, but she thought that this outfit would have been way too grungy for Double D.

"Um, thanks." She muttered. "Come on in."

She let him inside her house and shut the door. This time Double D had the reaction that Marie expected. His expression faltered as he took in the clothes, ash trays, and dingy knickknacks everywhere. Marie's smirk returned.

"Home sweet home." She said. "And we're going to be spending a lot of time here, honeybunch."

"W-we will?"

"Of course oven mitt." Marie grinned and leaned closer to him. "I mean, you are my boyfriend right? We're going to have to spend a lot of time together."

"Y-yes of course." Double D gave her a shaky smile. "Though if I may be so bold, perhaps you wouldn't mind if I helped you catch up on your, ahem, long overdue spring cleaning?"

"And just what the heck is that supposed to mean?" Marie's mother came into the living room with a scowl already on her face. "You trying to say my place is dirty?"

Double D flushed with embarrassment and began trembling with fear. "N-no ma'am."

"That's what it sounds like to me." Ms. Kanker scrutinized him. "You Marie's new man?"

"Why yes I am." Double D cleared his throat and held out his hand. "My name's Eddward, spelled with two D's, and I am indeed dating your daughter Marie. And as my thank you for having me over for dinner, I brought you this beautiful peperomia."

Ms. Kanker took a drag on her cigarette and tapped some of ashes into the pot. "Great, another ash tray. Like I need more."

A thinly veiled look of disgust came over Double D's face as he slowly pulled his plant back. Marie shot her mother an annoyed look but inwardly she wasn't surprised. Her mother was a proud and bold cynic and wasn't easily charmed. Pretty much the opposite of how Marie was around Double D, but hey- that might be starting to change.

"So are y'all eating or what?" Her mother said gruffly. "The food is ready."

After she left the living room, Double D signed and put his plant on a nearby table. "Um, Marie your mother is quite, um…. abrasive."

"Yeah, it runs in the family." Marie grinned and slapped him hard on the back. "You know, when I grow up I'm going to be just like her."

"You don't say," Edd mumbled. "Well, hopefully we will have plenty of time to change that prediction over the course of our relationship."

Marie's smirk fell instantly, but before she could say anything her mother impatiently called them to dinner and Edd scurried into the kitchen. She followed behind him, her nails digging into her palms. Oh tonight, her love boat will definitely see that no one can tame a Kanker.

Dinner was crazy spaghetti night. The crazy part was the mix of different pastas (cooked, over cooked, and under cooked), the sauce was a mixture of a few different sauces, of course including ketchup, and the meat balls were made of mystery meat, probably some of which wasn't actually meat. Now Marie was used to her family's horrible cooking, heck she couldn't cook to save her life either, but she wish she had a camera to take a picture of Double D's face. Crazy Kanker spaghetti wasn't the same as the fish burgers that they gave the Eds a couple of years back. So when Double D took his first bite, his face immediately changed.

"What's the matter Double D?" May asked with a mouthful of food. "Don't you like it?"

"What's wrong? Miss your fancy steak dinners?" Ms. Kanker snickered. "Or let me guess, you only eat tofu and say garbage."

Her mother and her sisters started laughing but Double D merely wiped his mouth with a napkin and gave her a straight answer.

"Actually Miss Kanker, I find a diet with meat is more nutritionally fulfilling than a diet without meat." He said. "And if I may be so bold, perhaps if you used less ketchup in your spaghetti sauce, you could bring out a better array of flavors."

Marie nearly choked on her food and her mother's eye brows rose ever so slightly. Double D maintained his polite smile and took another (small) bite of food. His eyes met Marie's and she was surprised to see triumph.

That was pretty short lived though. She and her sisters went back to messily eating while he ate the smallest bites possible. Now Double D was starting to aim those disgusted looks at them. That definitely annoyed her. So she started eating even more messily even to the point where May was looking at her funny. She slurped her spaghetti loudly and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Care for a napkin, darling?" Double D said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"What's wrong with the back of her hand?" Lee snickered. "It's not like using a napkin will improve her appearance much."

"Shut up, Lee!"

"I actually happen to love Marie's appearance." Double D spoke up softly. "Though a bit of, ahem… perhaps I should fetch you that napkin now Marie?"

"I don't need no napkin." Marie shoveled more food into her mouth. "Maybe you should learn how to relax and get a little messy yourself."

Double D frowned. "I think I'll pass, Marie. I can hardly stand Ed and Eddy's messy nature, lovable though they are."

Ms. Kanker watched the exchange with an amused and cynical glint in her eyes. She chuckled and took a sip of her beer.

"You two definitely act like a couple." Her mother snickered. "Like a couple headed to divorce court. That didn't last long, but it lasted longer than my last marriage."

Her mother's laugh had a cutting edge to it and Marie lowered her head, no longer hungry, no longer enjoying her plan. Double D's awkward silence seemed to say it all. She glanced up a few time to find Double D picking over his food, unable to meet her eye.

After what felt like a million years, dinner finally ended. While her mom fussed at Lee and May to clear the table and do the dishes, Marie walked Double D out of the trailer.

"Well," He said softly, "that could have gone a little better I think."

Marie shuffled her feet in the dirt. "Told ya it wasn't gonna be fun."

"Yeah. Though it was a…enlightening experience." Double D sighed and turned to her with a thoughtful expression. "Marie, I think there's something we need to discuss in terms of our current relationship."

Marie closed her eyes. This was it. Double D had had the first hand rude, crazy Kanker experience and now he was going to break up with her. And to be honest? It was almost a relief-

"I think we should spend more time together."

Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" Marie's eyes shot open and she stared at him. Double D was grinning from ear to ear. "You just had dinner with my family. You saw how they are. And you still want to spend more time with me?"

"But don't you see Marie, that's exactly why I need to spend more time with you." Double D took her hands in his and smiled brightly into her face. "You're different from your mother and sisters. And if we spend more time together I can prevent you from becoming like them."

"Excuse me?" Marie snatched her hands out of his and glared at him. "That's my family you're talking about Eddward. I'm a Kanker just like they are."

Edd's smile faltered and he began to wring his hands nervously. "M-my apologizes Marie, I meant no disrespect towards your kin. I simply meant that-"

"That you think I should change." Marie sighed. "This entire time all you've wanted me to do is act better, dress better, get better grades…"

"Because I care about you, Marie." Double D said softly. He reached for her hand but didn't grab it. "That day in the river-"

"I saved your life, which is the only reason why you started dating me." Marie sighed. "So maybe… we should stop dating."

She looked up at him, half expecting to see relief, but instead he looked absolutely crestfallen. Marie was tempted to take it back, but actually she was the one feeling relieved.

"I can change if that's what you want." Double D offered, but his face was full of doubt.

Marie shook her head with a sad smile. "But then you wouldn't be the sweet muffin I fell for in the first place."

Double D nodded. "Yes, it was a rather foolish suggestion on my part."

There was a moment of silence between then as they listened to the drone of television sets. Marie felt close to crying but refused to shed a single tear. Yeah it sucked, but she was a Kanker through and through. Double D sighed and finally turned to her.

"Well," He said giving her a soft and sad smile, "I guess this is goodnight Marie. Goodnight and goodbye."

Marie nodded and then was taken by complete surprise when Double D leaned forward and gave her a gentle peck on the lips. He then gave her a final smile and wave farewell before leaving her on the porch alone.

"Goodnight, Dreamboat." Marie whispered, a single tear falling from her eye.

A/N- Please don't hate me for this ending! There's still an epilogue left and a sequel coming soon. Review pls even if you absolutely hate it.